Rule of law and human rights issues in social media contentmoderation

Abstract

This thesis explores the content moderation process at social media companies. This process is divided into three distinct stages: Creation (the production of terms and conditions), Enforcement (the enforcement of those rules), and Response (the use of both internal and external methods of appeal to enact change). It explains how content moderation occurs and identifies a number of serious issues for both human rights and the rule of law in the current approach. It also proposes a variety of solutions for both small-scale and broader reform and argues for a regulatory approach grounded in procedural rule of law principles and mandatory human rights due diligence.